


variation on a theme

by owlvsdove



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:05:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlvsdove/pseuds/owlvsdove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only Tony Stark could turn the emotional outpouring of pillow talk into more sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	variation on a theme

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little ficlet. I wanted to play with the idea that I've seen a lot in IM fics in which Pepper assumes Tony thinks of her as another one-night stand. 
> 
> Post IM2.
> 
> Unbetaed, so please forgive my mistakes!

The sex was _good_.

The sex was euphoric. Tony didn’t even want to acknowledge _how_ Pepper knew to do these things to him, whether it was experience or intuition or black magic; and Pepper was well aware of how he knew what to do for her, but even with all of the slutty backstory it turned out better than okay.

Delayed gratification at its most delayed, most gratified. A merciful release.

She rolled away from him, gathering her hair up off her neck to splay it over the pillow. He wanted to reach for her but he held back, guessing that she would fuss. Too much sweat to be sweet with each other.

She really was incredible. He already knew this, but sex was an aspect at which he had only guessed her prowess, rather than witnessed. And it wasn’t even _just sex_. They hadn’t just had _sex_ , really; she had made it into something more.

_Making love_? Eugh. That sounded weird. But it was closer to the truth, anyway. He wondered if she knew that – if she had guessed long ago how he felt about her or if it was a complete mystery.

He felt compelled to say something. To clarify.

“You’re very special, Pepper,” he started.

Right, maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.

“Okay,” she said, suspicious.

“I’m just saying, you are a very special woman. To me, and to many others.”

Her brow furrowed. “Thank you?”

“I just want to make sure that you know. You are special.”

“I don’t know what’s happening right now.” She squinted at him, cocking her head. “Are you br—did I break you?”

And Tony was suddenly nervous. “What? _No_.” _Broken!_ Like he hadn’t just rocked her world there.

(To be fair, though, his world _had_ also been significantly rocked by her. Still, she didn’t have to be cocky about it.)

She turned to face him, propping her head up on one hand. “Then what the hell are you talking about?”

“I just didn’t want you to think that I thought that you were just another one night stand.” He couldn’t even tell if he was speaking English anymore.

She almost smiled. “Why would I think that?”

Tony stopped. “I don’t know.”

“ _You_ kissed _me_ on the rooftop.”

“Who’s to blame is really debatable; but I’ve been trying to kiss you for over a decade!”

“No, you haven’t.” No, he hadn’t. He had been thinking about it for that long, certainly. But not actively trying. “Not really.”

“Right. I just didn’t want there to be any…murkiness. About what you are to me.”

And he could definitely see her fighting a smile. It came through in her eyes, though. “Listen, Tony, I’m trying to toot my own horn—”

“I wish you _would_ ,” he cut in, eyes wide, fighting a little grin at the use of that seriously stupid expression.

She paused only to give him the _you lovable idiot_ glare that had become so comforting to him over the years before continuing. “But I’m pretty sure my coming to work for you was one of the better things that ever happened to you.”

He couldn’t be offended, he couldn’t laugh, he couldn’t argue, because it was the truth.

“You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

(Well, after that, she looked away and bit her lip and Tony was instantly frightened in that way he always was that she was either about to cry or about to laugh in his face, but instead she just inched closer to him and took one of his arms  to wrap around herself and kissed him soft and slow and deep, and then things picked up from there, and, yeah, he lost count after a while but he was pretty confident they’d be blowing each other’s minds for a long, long time to come.)

 

 

 


End file.
